Maple and Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal

You may notice my use of demerara.  You may wonder what demerara is.  According to Wikipedia demerara is:

Natural brown sugar is brown sugar made by partially refining sugar cane extract, whereas most brown sugar is made by adding molasses to fully refined sugar, which may come from sugar beets.

Did you know that about brown sugar?  Did you know it is really refined white sugar flavored with molasses? 

Demerara is also known as Turbinado.  Demerara is the name most commonly used in the UK and Turbinado is the name most commonly used in the US.  I buy Demerara in the bulk section at Winco.  Turbinado is available at Trader Joe's.  I also buy my quick oats in the bulk section at Winco.  I heart Winco.

Today I was out of brown sugar and I really wanted to make up some oatmeal since we are currently cleaning out the pantry!  Demerara is very coarse and I knew it would not blend in well with the oats and since I was grinding my oats to a flour like consistency I figured I could do the same with the Demerara.  It worked perfectly!  This was the tastiest oatmeal.  The kids loved it and I loved it. 

MAPLE AND BROWN SUGAR INSTANT OATMEAL

• 4 c. quick oats
• 4 c. quick oats, ground up in blender
• 1-1/2 c. demerara, ground up in blender
• 1 T. maple extract

Grind up 4 cups oatmeal and demerara in a couple of batches in your blender. Combine with 4 more cups oatmeal and maple extract. Mix well to incorporate the maple extract. Store in airtight container.

Prepare: Scoop desired amount into bowl, 1/3 to 1/2 cup. Pour desired amount of boiling water over oatmeal. Add a pat of butter and a sprinkling of salt and enjoy.

***Imitiation Maple Flavor...my new BFF!